We just want to say THANK YOU for participating in this fun linky all month!

Everyone learned so much and gathered so many wonderful ideas from all of the bloggers who participated. Although our linky party ends this week, we know that we will all continue to embed the thinking behind No Worksheet Wednesday into our classrooms EVERY day! :)

Let's keep these fabulous ideas going by linking up with us again this week!

If this is your first week joining us, make a vow not to use a single worksheet every Wednesday for the month of March. (Remember, recording sheets that allow students to record their thinking are not worksheets. Writing paper and journals are a great way to embed authentic writing into your lessons without the need for a "worksheet.")

Each week, take pictures and blog about a couple activities you did for No Worksheet Wednesday. Share those pictures and activities on your blog and then link up with us on the Primary Chalkboard to share with others! The linky party is below this post.

Please be sure to grab the button at the top of this post and use it in your blog post. Link back to us in your post. The linky button will be open from Wednesday morning at 6:00am EST to 11:00pm EST on Tuesday. Then, the next week's "party" will begin!

One of the things that I miss most about classroom teaching is teaching writing. I get to do a little bit of writing in my current position, but it's not as in depth as when I was a classroom teacher. Writing was always such a challenge to teach for various reasons, but I always enjoyed it. It always seemed like I would get super inspired during a writing lesson. I loved to watch the growth of my little firsties as the year progressed. You could always plan a writing lesson, but it would always take a turn because it's all about the students! They all have different needs, different strengths and skills. Every mini lesson or writing task would open my eyes to something new I needed to teach. For some reason, it equally excited and panicked me. Ha!

Earlier this year a teacher at my school came to me asked for help with a writing assignment that she wanted to do for her class. She is an amazing writer and a phenomenal teacher, but this was a new grade level for her, so she wanted to take her idea and make sure she was teaching it in an age appropriate way. I was more than excited to help!

Hopefully the format of this writing lesson will inspire you to think of another opinion writing project. :) For most of my opinion writing lessons, I followed these steps.

The assignment: She wanted her kids to write her a persuasive letter, where they try to convince her to go on the field trip of their choice. Here's what we came up with:

She made her own chart using chart paper that showed the choices they had. (She had different choices but since it was so long ago, I couldn't remember them!) With this chart, you could brainstorm with the class things you would do on this field trip and what you could learn. That will help decide which is the best.

After doing that first chart, give your students time to talk. Yep. Talking time. Give it a little structure by instructing them to use the statements like, I think _________ would be the best field trip because... or We should go to ______________ because ______________. This individual student page with go to all the students, but first, I would make my own on chart paper. Explain each section. Use oral writing to model the format (almost like you are writing a paper in front of them but only with words.) Point to each section as you are speaking to where where you are at. Then give them time to talk again about possible reasons why they should go on their field trip.

This is an optional extra to guide them before writing so they can put in transition words. Have them choose one transition word from each box. Those words would then be used before each reason. If you haven't done any lessons on transition words, you would need to spend more time on this part. :) Again, give them opportunities to practice their sentences by giving them talking time. Have them point to their own planning page as they add in the transition words.

Now we are ready to write! This class used a letter format, so she had an additional lesson earlier about the parts of a letter.

If you haven't gone over parts of a letter, you could use this format, which is more of an opinion writing page. (I would copy more lines on the other side obviously, so there was more room to write).

For those younger kids, I would use something like this:

You know I love rubrics! I create a rubric for each format above. Make sure your students see the rubric before they begin writing so they know what is expected. After filling out the rubric, talk to your students about goals. What is something that they can work on for next time? What is something that they did well? Keep track of these strengths and areas of growth. Provide time to talk with your students about how they can reach those goals. Then for the next assignment, refer back so you can remember what they are working on and how you can support them. :)

If there is one thing I want to take away from this, it's that writing is a process and not a worksheet. :) Trust me, I've been guilty in the past of just assigning writing and not truly teaching/modeling it. Aaaaand, once you are done with a writing assignment, you have really just begun! :)

Friends~I love debating in class with my first graders! Nothing makes me prouder than to see these little guys share their opinions and back them up with facts!

Each Friday, we have a classroom debate after morning meeting. Since we just finished our unit on the Iditarod and sled dogs we debated about what was the best pet~Cat or Dog.

It is so simple to do! I just grab a sentence strip and write a question or statement on it. I laminate it and add magnets to the back. I place it on the board and my students chant THINK! After they have thought a bit, I place 2 cards on either side of the question. The cards are the choices for the debate.

I then say HUDDLE and the kiddos split into 2 groups to discuss facts to support their thinking. I then say DEBATE and they break into 2 groups.

The students then stand so that they can begin to discuss their points on the topic. I ask the students to agree with or disagree with a speaker. They must have a fact to support their statements.

As a class, we have been working on eye contact and poise as part of our speaking and listening goals.

Give it a shot in your classroom! It is such a confidence builder:)

Check out more fun over on The Schroeder Page !

You can also check out my Discussion Towers to get your kiddos talking with each other!

Thank you to everyone who linked up last week! Your posts were AWESOME and super INSPIRING!! We can't wait to see what you had in store for your students this week for No Worksheet Wednesday!

If this is your first week joining us, make a vow not to use a single worksheet every Wednesday for the month of March. (Remember, recording sheets that allow students to record their thinking are not worksheets. Writing paper and journals are a great way to embed authentic writing into your lessons without the need for a "worksheet.")

Each week, take pictures and blog about a couple activities you did for No Worksheet Wednesday. Share those pictures and activities on your blog and then link up with us on the Primary Chalkboard to share with others! The linky party is below this post.

Please be sure to grab the button at the top of this post and use it in your blog post. Link back to us in your post. The linky button will be open from Wednesday morning at 6:00am EST to 11:00pm EST on Tuesday. Then, the next week's "party" will begin!

Hi friends! It's Haley from My Silly Firsties! I'm so excited to share how I use art in my class with you! I know that authentic learning is a huge "buzz word" in education, and it's one that's very close to my heart! One of the easiest ways I have found to promote engagement and learning in my class is to use art as much as possible!

It's easy to think that art is "fluff" but I don't believe that's true! Of course, some art can be a bit "fluffy" but sometimes that's okay too! They're babies after all! :)

I wanted to show you some examples of how we have used art in the past few weeks, and then I have a few tips for you!

For this project, we were studying stars in the sky. We read this awesome nonfiction book, and then they drew the constellation they wanted to create. I helped with the glitter part, hahaha. Of course, we had someone just write Elsa for their constellation. Of course...I can't even remember what my teaching was like before Frozen!

This amazing directed drawing is from Jennifer over at First Grade Blue Skies! They had SO much fun! I am a HUGE believer in Directed Drawings!! They teach listening, following directions, creativity, and so much more! After our drawing, they trace in sharpie. They are getting SO good at that. After they trace, we painted. :) I love paint...and I have never had parents complain about a little paint on their clothes! :)

Here's another idea I grabbed off of Pinterest at this link. This was a great discussion piece about why the trees look different in each season. There are lots of variations of this project, but we just used paint. :)

I LOVE the Green Giant for teaching visualization!! We had SO much fun reading this poem together and drawing the giant!!

We have just started our American symbols unit, and after a little video and discussion I let them make a mural with their table mates of the American symbols. We weren't quite ready for the group mural, hahahah...so we ended up cutting out each piece. :)

Here are the tips I have! These are the things I keep in mind when I am lesson planning and thinking of how to integrate art into our week! :)

Make sure the kiddos know WHY they are doing what they are doing!! Just like anything else, it's important they are able to identify why they are doing an activity. Occasionally, we will have free art as a reward but usually it's directly tied to what we are studying!

Art is something that doesn't come easy to some of my sweeties. So it is the PERFECT time to talk about our brain's ability to grow! We talk ALL.THE.TIME about practicing! Art can lead to frustration, but it's those teachable moments that will stick with kiddos!

"It's okay that this is hard for you! Just keep going! Think about how much you have grown as an artist this year!"

In my room, I have a few "rushers." They are usually my super high babies who can fly through things! I'm okay with them flying through some things...because they get it, and their little brains process that fast! But art is something I can expect them to take their time and be NEAT. It takes a few times of giving them their work back and telling them you know it's not their best! But after that, they will get it. :) And they will start doing their best...most of the time! :)

I know paint and sharpies are MESSY...clothes go home with spots on them, hands are filthy, and our tables are destroyed. But it is SO worth it. Don't be afraid! If it turns out badly, you can call me and I'll come clean it up! :)

I hope this post helped you think of some ways to integrate art into your daily instruction! Thanks for reading!!

*We believe that learning activities that promote THINKING are the most powerful activities we can provide for our students.

*We want to showcase and promote these types of activities for our followers! :)

*We understand there is a time and place for worksheets in the classroom. However, we know worksheets are just one part of our classrooms, so lets put a spotlight on the other parts of our rooms! :) :) :)

To join us, make a vow not to use a single worksheet every Wednesday for the month of March. (Remember, recording sheets that allow students to record their thinking are not worksheets. Writing paper and journals are a great way to embed authentic writing into your lessons without the need for a "worksheet.")

Each week, take pictures and blog about a couple activities you did for No Worksheet Wednesday. Share those pictures and activities on your blog and then link up with us on the Primary Chalkboard to share with others! The linky party is below this post.

Please be sure to grab the button at the top of this post and use it in your blog post. Link back to us in your post. The linky button will be open from Wednesday morning at 6:00am EST to 11:00pm EST on Tuesday. Then, the next week's "party" will begin! :)

We can't WAIT to read all of the amazing hands-on learning activities you come up with! :)

Aloha friends! Corinna here from Surfin' Through Second. I hope everyone is ready for a new month and Spring just around the corner! Spring Break is in two weeks and before I relax and get some surf time in I will be setting up my class for the last quarter.

We all know the last part of school can get a little crazy. The kids are getting anxious and so are you! Here are a few ideas for classroom management from some of our PC authors to help keep your class running smooth.

Every year around this time I change up my classroom management. The students all get a new job, and they get paid in Beach Bucks each week for doing not only their job, but classwork, homework and just being a good citizen.

Using Beach Bucks in my class the last quarter is always so helpful and the kids absolutely love it! Who doesn't love getting paid for their hard work? To find out more details Click Here for my original post.

These ideas are ours. We joyfully share them with you to use in your own classroom, but never to claim as your own in any fashion. They are the intellectual property of each talented blogger represented here.